MORR 69CD

Independent Pop & Rock

"Ghost" is based on one very simple idea - what if houses had memories? What if when we lived in them, our stories somehow bled into the walls and our ghosts were destined to forever haunt them. A lofty subject for young musician Ben Cooper, at a mere 24 years of age he has already notched up a full album under the hugely acclaimed Electric President moniker, and now "Ghost" is here to show a more sensitive side to his sound. Instead of the electro glitch-pop of Electric President, the Radical Face material shows a much deeper reliance on songwriting, looking toward musicians such as Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith for influence. Recorded almost entirely alone in a shed in Florida, there is a singular vision on display across the course of eleven tracks and an intimacy rarely heard anymore on pop records - Cooper manages somehow to distil his emotions and peculiar concepts perfectly and the songs are some of the most memorable we've heard on the Morr label. "Welcome Home" is almost a miniature radio-play with banjo, tumbling glockenspiel, children's voices and the rattle of toy drums. Elsewhere, "Wrapped In Piano Strings" shows that Cooper can take a softer approach with light guitars and hushed vocals uttering sweet farewells. When the album comes to a majestic close with the appropriately titled "Homesick" you realise the album has more than lived up to the concept as the ghosts of these delicate pop vignettes haunt your mind for the days and weeks to come. A spiritual experience.